Closer
by GrayscaleSwan
Summary: Jeff finally gave his old friend Tony the opportunity to visit. Jeff and Tony soon find that the news Tony has to tell will bring them a lot closer.


**Hey, Grayscale Swan here and I did a little intermission from my other story I'm working on "The Hunt". And I decided to write this because I just got into playing Earthbound again. Jeff is one of my favorite characters next to Ness and I heard a lot of speculation and confirmation about a few of the characters in the game. Mostly Tony, and after that I started shipping... shipping so much.**

**Anyways enjoy this short story! Also Nintendo owns all the characters used and Earthbound.**

* * *

A young boy kicked up small rocks as he scuttled through the lime green grass in his black suede shoes. This boy's name was Tony he had finally been invited to see an d old friend of his, Jeff. As he ran he held his black boater hat with one hand so it wouldn't fly of his head when he sped along. With the other he gripped a small suitcase that he had lugged all the way from Snow Wood Boarding School.

His friend Jeff had stayed with his father a for a little while instead of going back to the academy. From what Jeff said about his father to Tony when they were roommates back at school, it seemed as if he didn't think much about his father. But what could Tony say, he didn't really talk about his parents much either.

Once he arrived at Dr. Andonuts' door he took a second to catch his breath then knocked on the door trying not to be too obnoxious. He wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead and lightly slapped his pudgy red cheeks. As he waited he shared a thought with himself. _I'm so excited to see Jeff again! He is..er.. was my best friend and all it's just been such a long time. I wonder what he'll think of me when I tell him. I was gonna tell him at my birthday party but then he had to leave all of a sudden. _Apparently He had some important news to tell Jeff.

Tony stared off into the distance it seemed like he was deep in thought until the creek of the large metal door startled him. There he was, standing in front of Tony was a now 14 year old Jeff. It's been a year since they have seen each other. Jeff had the same dodgy blond hair cut and those same harsh glasses Tony remembered. For some reason Tony always thought of them as some kind of facial feature, the lenses looked like some kind of opaque shield only letting Tony see his own reflection in them.

Tony let out a short um sound, he was beyond words at that point.

"Ah Tony, I'm glad you could make it. Please come inside." Jeff said with a calm and polite tone in his voice.

Tony on the other hand simply nodded and couldn't help blushing and toddling inside like a child.

"Let me take your hat and coat Tony." Jeff offered while letting the door squeak close again.

For some reason Tony was flustered, he took off his coat and hat then gingerly handed them to Jeff. He put his suitcase down and sighed he had finally made it. He knelled down to untie his shoes, but he also watched Jeff hang up his things. He looked closely at him noticing that his cheeks were powdered with the softest pink and adorned with six memorable black freckles three on each cheek. Tony loosened his bow tie and smiled uncontrollably to himself.

He was feeling something, some kind of tingly feeling welled up in his chest. He thought it could be some sort of anxiety, he was anxious to speak to Jeff, and to hear Jeff speak back to him. But he wanted to hear is voice badly.

Once Jeff turned back around Tony reached out to hug the other. He wrapped his thin arms around Jeff's waist and pressed his body against Jeff's. He rested his head on Jeff's chest and nuzzled him a bit, rustling the chestnut hair that laid flat on his head due to the hat he wore all the time. The only thing running through Tony's mind was _Oh gosh_ he closed his eyes tightly in fear of Jeff's reaction.

Then he felt Jeff hug back, and Tony's already racing heart beat faster at Jeff's warm embrace. Tony loved the feeling of hugging Jeff, he relished every moment as it made him remember small things about his friend.

He took in a deep breath and smelled Jeff, he remembered his specific smell and also got a whiff of chocolate as well. Then he remembered the time when he and Jeff would eat cookies back in Winters.

Tony smiled at that memory then squeezed a bit tighter he noticed that Jeff felt soft he was thin but not bony. Eventually Tony forced himself to let go and slowly loosened his grip on Jeff as he exhaled heavily.

"Thanks for inviting me over Jeff, you're the best." Tony cooed softly while letting a bead of sweat roll down his face.

"No problem, it's been a while and I thought I should see one of my best friends again." Jeff said while straightening his bowtie and letting a soft smile creep across his lips.

That smile hit Tony like a smash attack, forcing him to return the smile with a goofy crooked one of his own. Compared to Tony Jeff was rather aloof, so a small casual smile like this instead of a profound comment was a nice rarity to Tony. Jeff chuckled a little then waved to Tony so he could follow him to a small sitting area with rather interesting furniture. All Tony could do was follow closely behind Jeff like he did that one faithful night Jeff escaped the boarding school.

Tony shivered as his socks touched the chilly metal floor of Jeff's house. Jeff and his Father Dr. Andonuts thought Saturn Valley was an ideal place to study and invent for the time being. Eagleland had a very warm climate compared to Winters and Tony saw it as a nice change and Saturn Valley as a lovely place to visit and see Jeff.

Tony took a seat and put his hands together, he started thinking about telling Jeff his news then got even more flustered. Jeff saw that his friend had his head down and was turning a little red, he spoke up about it.

"Are you alright Tony? Hopefully it's not too hot in here, we usually like to keep the temperature at 71 degrees Fahrenheit."

Tony jumped then shook his head still trying to hide is face. "Oh it's okay I feel fine but it's just-"

He paused then looked away again. "It's nothing Jeff thanks for caring so much." Tony squeaked and chickened out._Darn it Tony, come on stop being like this, I'm sure he won't treat you any different. I'm such a loser._Tony thought to himself while trying to calm down a little. He peaked up at Jeff who adjusted his glasses and shrugged.

"Whatever you say Tony, would you like a donut. My father just got some more so they are fresh."

That uncontrollable smile came over Tony again and he decided it was okay to look up. "Sure." He also noticed something about Jeff Andonuts, he noticed that he ate quite a few donuts but he couldn't quite figure out why. Maybe he just liked them like that. Jeff briefly walked into a different room and came back with two donuts.

Jeff handed Tony a donut on a napkin and took a bite out of another that he had for himself. Tony took a closer look and noticed that the donuts were filled with red bean paste, those were Jeff's favorite kind.

"So what's new with you Tony, have the other students been treating you well at Snow Wood?" Jeff asked taking another big bite out of the donut.

Tony trembled lightly and nibbled a bit at the donut nervous about what he was going to say. "Well I guess the other kids are nice enough to me but I kind of miss being your roommate Jeff. Are you still seeing that guy Ness?" It was true Tony was a little jealous of Ness the boy wonder and how much time he had spent with Jeff last year.

"That's good, but I don't really see Ness and the gang any much anymore. We all kind of went our own separate ways, but I think Ness had a thing for Paula, the girl in our group. They just might get married one day." Jeff giggled softly at that idea.

"Oh well that's nice! I hope they do... but Jeff, there is something I have to tell you. It's about me." Tony tightened up his muscles and placed the donut he had on a side table to prepare himself.

Jeff all of a sudden got interested in what Tony had to say. "Oh really what is it? Did you invent something new this year?" He said finishing off the donut he had.

"No, it's not that Jeff. It's just I've been doing a little bit of thinking and," Tony bit his lip and found this extremely hard to say. "I recently decided that I'm gay." Tony felt the need to avert his eyes and not see Jeff's reaction but he had to look, he had to see what Jeff would do and hear what he would say.

Jeff swallowed hard and threw his head forwards as he coughed and shook. His glasses flew across the room and landed on the floor bending the frame and shattering the seemingly indestructible lenses. Tony's eyes followed Jeff's glasses until they hit the floor, he clenched his teeth together at the shatter _What have I done? Maybe it was a little too soon._ Tony thought to himself and felt his eyes sting with the saltiest of all the tears he had shed.

Now he couldn't look at Jeff at all, all he could do was think._Oh no, now he thinks I'm weird! He thinks differently of me now. I feel so bad I shouldn't have told him. I want to leave._

He got up and retrieved Jeff's glasses like some sort of loyal dog. "I'm sorry if I scared you Jeff, I'm really sorry." Tony sniffed and looked down down at Jeff's now ruined specs.

"Tony. It's okay don't be sorry, it's okay really. You just shocked me a little bit." Jeff said in a soft voice once his coughing subsided.

"Really!? Er I mean really? Are we still friends? I mean I like you Jeff, but I don't like like you that would be ridiculous." Tony sputtered caught in the spur of the moment, of course he lied a little bit something about Jeff was attractive to Tony. But he wasn't going to say that.

Jeff looked in Tony's eyes he was unable to see but Tony locked onto Jeff's eyes and he gasped softly at the sight. Jeff's glasses always made him and their interactions seem distant but now Tony felt awfully close to Jeff. Jeff's deep blue eyes sent a shiver down Tony's spine and made him shed a single tear.

Jeff's face was just as red as Tony's right now, but Tony got even more red because now he could finally look at Jeff's whole face. Tony was in awe, Jeff had a round face with light eyebrows and a button nose, surprisingly enough he was doe-eyed for a second before he squinted. His ocean blue irises caught all kinds of light and reflections that were hardly visible in Tony's hazel eyes.

"Here are your glasses if you want Jeff, they're really broken I'm sorry, again." Tony mumbled softly while handing the glasses over.

Jeff took them and felt around the jagged edges on the lenses. "Oh, thank you Tony, and it's okay don't cry. Of course we can still be friends because I like you too. You're my best friend." Jeff chimed and smiled at Tony.

"Thank you Jeff." Tony sniffed then hugged Jeff again, he realized that he loved Jeff more than he thought he did.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! If you want leave a review telling me what you think, I appreciate feedback.**


End file.
